2004 Nissan 350z

Posted the Z on autotrader. Dammit, I'm gonna miss my car. For those that care, here's a nice picture of my baby:


Drop me a message if you want to buy it. I want her to go to a good home.

Car for sale

I have to sell my 350z. I love this car so much, but it's costing me about $600 per month. Thats $600 more than I can spend in the MBA program. I need to unload the car no matter how much it pains me. Well, if anyone's interested, I'm asking 22k for it.

Car for sale

I have to sell my 350z. I love this car so much, but it's costing me about $600 per month. Thats $600 more than I can spend in the MBA program. I need to unload the car no matter how much it pains me. Well, if anyone's interested, I'm asking 22k for it.

Writing the first check

I had to write my first check to the program. Its for some fees and whatnot. I also checked the "I am attending the program" box. Dang. I waited for this for so long and I actually hesitated for a second. I'm going to drop off the paperwork today. Now I have to go buy a laptop.

The Envelope Please

I just got my acceptance letter. Its not really what I expected. I was sort of expecting it on gold leaf paper or something like that but its just a letter. Kind of anti-climactic in an odd way. Still, I'm impressed tha I have it. Now I have to write a check for "expenses" to the program.

Congratulations are in order

Word gets around fast in this department. People are already walking up to me and giving me congratulations. This is really, wierd since I'm not going to be in the program unitil the middle of August. Maybe I can parlay this into getting a GRA.

parting is such sweet sorrow.

I can pay for the MBA program. I looked at my finances and I have like $50k in the bank. Gotta love those money market accounts. Well. I can do it. However, I need to sell my Nissan 350z. That sucks. That car is my baby. Its a 2004 and it has less than 15k miles on it. This is going to be hard for me, but the payments and insurance on it are costing me like $600 per month. Hopefully the guy that lives above me is going to buy it. if not, its on to autotrader.

I drafted my letter of resignation today. Its going to be 5 years this may. Wow. My boss asked me if this was really what I want. This is what I want. I just hope I don't fail out of the program, seeing that I'm going to be paying the whole thing myself. I'm resigning like in August, when the program begins.

Should I stay or should I go?

I dropped the bomb on my boss Monday. hes not happy, but he's really glad that I got in. Hes one of the people that wrote the original letter of recommendation. Hes as shocked as I am.

This is kind of a bad thing though. Our webmistress is also leaving since her visa is expiring or something like that. Now the whole department is going to be high and dry. What I told him was that I would like to stay on as a part-timer, either as a GRA or an hourly employee.

Now I have a meeting with the head of the department, who, ironically, also gave me a letter. Shes not so optimistic about the whole thing, and says shes going to look into the GRA thing. Shes knows I've done a good job for the department but doesn't know if the whole GRA thing is going to work out.

I'm in.

Well, Thursday night I broke down and called the lady I interviewed with. usually I get the flush letter by now. No flush letter. Here's a summary of the call:

"Hello?"
"Uhm, yeah. Hi. This is XXXX XXXXXX."
"Oh hi. We just got out of the admissions meeting."
At this point my heart is in my throat.
"I think that you know why I am calling."
"yes I do, and don't worry, you were accepted."
"Wow.... Wow... I don't really know how to feel right now."
"Thats ok. We'll send you the acceptance packet in a few days."
"Wow...."

Then she hangs up. I'm kind of stunned. This is good news. Well, its great news. I got in. I was already making plans to goof off in August. Now I have to cancel those plans. Well, I would rather cancel than not get in.

I dtill have the problem with my job. I have to quit my job which is going to suck.

Still nothing

I got a mail from the lady I interviewed with. She wants to see my resume. I mail it to her. I wonder if this is a good or a bad thing. I still wait.

The waiting

I'm getting down to the tooth-knashing part. I've not heard anything back yet. This is a bad thing. I think that I got rejected. Mom says not to worry. Mom worries all the time. I sent a mail to the lady I interviewed with. She tells me that everything went well. I wait.

Campus visit

I visited the MBA program 2 Mondays ago. I got to wear one of my many, many suits. Its kind of wierd, I have like 4 custom made, tailored suits and I never get to wear any of them. I think I've worn one of them once, to my 10-year HS reunion.

Showed up late. Damnit I hate Atlanta traffic. Finally found a place to park. Met my "buddy" to take me to class. This new building is really nice. Beats the hell out of my undergrad classes. Today we're watching groups present. I take notes. I look like I should be presenting in this suit.

First interview. This is with the same lady I have interviewed with before. Seems as though I don't have anything to go over. I have lots of questions, and I know what I want to do this time. She says shes impressed since I was really unfocused the previous time I applied. Now I seem like I know what I am talking about. We stretch what was supposed to be a 15-minute interview into a good hour.

Second interview. I've never met this guy and hes eating me alive. Dang. I didn't realize there was so much I should have known. I've got no idea what 6-sigma certification is. Hell, I don't even know how to spell it. Whoops. Then he gets to asking me what I an bring to a class. After a little cajoling, I finally open up:

• I'm the computer guy of the group
• I can tell you EVERYTHING about the company's IT structure that I can glean without calling and asking.
• Ready to go above and beyond in the presentation? Cool. So am I.

He likes that. Then he asks me about my name. I have a latin name. I'm not really that Latino. I know where this is going. He immediately asks me if I know about the Hispanic business association or something like that. I tell him I don't. Then he tells me. I tell him I really don't want any sort of help or anything. I never got help for being hispanic. I don't want it now. He says he likes that.

Now for the sledge hammer. He asks me if I have any questions. I do: How'd I do? He looks me in the face and tells me thats that ballsiest thing hes ever heard. He likes that.

The Date issue......

The dates are going to be a little screwy, like all the same until I figure out how to change the dates or get up to speed on everything. I'm trying to give the illusion that I started this before I found out I got in. Thats not the case.

Background....the program

I've been trying to get in to the GT MBA program since 2002. Every time I apply, I get rejected. This year, I changed my strategy. I went ahead and went down there and asked what I had to do to get in. This time I was told how to dress, and what to do before I officially applied:

• Wear a suit to the interview. Cool. I can wear one of my suits.
• Know about the program; This was one of the biggest problems efore, I have now been told. Apparently I didn't really know what I wanted to do and so I got rejected. My grades were ok, and so was my GMAT score. 5 years of work experience helps too.
• Be prepared. This time I memorized the entire viewbook.

Ok. I'm ready for this.

And so it begins....

Hello everybody. I'm not going to give my name. Sorry. I've decided to post this blog to sort of help me keep my sanity. This blog is here in order for me to document my time in the MBA program at Georgia Tech.